Ira et Patientia
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and thirty-seven:  sins and virtues day 5 of 7  Kurt knows he'll have to run the risk of running into Karofsky from time to time.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 25th cycle. Now cycle 26!_

**SINS + VIRTUES SET:** _Day 5 of 7: Ira (Wrath) + Patientia (Patience)_

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><p><strong>"Ira et Patientia"<br>Kurt & Karofsky **

He imagined it would happen at some time, running into Karofsky again. He hadn't seen him since he'd left McKinley for Dalton, but there was no way he could expect zero contact, not with him being in school with all his friends… And then there were Finn's football games. He wasn't exactly a big football guy, even if he'd played on that team, but he would always support his step-brother, and it gave him a chance to see everyone… which unfortunately included Karofsky, pumped up for a game.

This was the first of those games, that night… He had half a mind to go in with some sort of disguise and just fade into the crowd. But he wasn't going to do that, wasn't going to hide. He had already given up plenty for him, because of him; this wasn't going to be more of the same.

Still he couldn't forget about the events that had led him out of his school. He could understand confusion, fear… he had lived all that. What he couldn't get was the way he chose to respond… the anger, threats, intimidation… Did he give out any indication of being out to get him?

He could imagine it might seem that way, with how much Karofsky had put him through, all this time, but he couldn't do that, wouldn't, not with something like this. He knew, sure, they led very different lives, but this was something they could share… Dave had no idea how good it could be to have someone who knew, someone who understood and might be able to help?

He knew what it came down to. He wasn't going to make assumptions about his situation at home, about how his news would go over with his parents, his family. But then school, well… He had to wonder if Azimio had any idea. Those two were one pair, always. But if he knew, would he back him up, or would he lead the offense? Either way, it was a brutal place to be just figuring who you were, who you might become, when no one gave you the chance to stop, and breathe, and think. So he supposed to someone like Dave Karofsky, his solution was to shout at the world and wait for it to back away, create the space. The only problem with that was that, if he went on like this, all he would manage to do was end up pushing away those who could actually be on his side.

He thought he knew so much, before this whole mess with Karofsky, before that kiss that just ran across everything he knew like an eraser on a board. Now he had to go and start all over… rebuild from the blurry mess of what was left behind, reinvent where he couldn't see what used to be there anymore. But it wasn't just about figuring out this new version of Karofsky, though that alone was an ongoing process. He just hadn't seen this coming… He usually prided himself in being able to spot these things, but the thought had never crossed his mind… Maybe he was just too busy being scared for his wellbeing.

But he wanted to be home. It was great at Dalton, sure… He had Blaine, and the Warblers… But every once in a while he would stop and get this feeling, like this wasn't his place and never would be, not completely. In his wildest dreams, this whole mess would get settled and he would get to make his glorious return to McKinley, taking Blaine with him. Some days it was the only thing that maintained him.

He knew it could take him time before that happened. He would vaguely hear from his McKinley contacts, in regards to Karofsky, how things had or hadn't changed, and if he was destined for a change of heart, the magical crone or the genie hadn't found him yet…

Until that happened, Kurt didn't have many other options. If he valued his general mental and physical wellbeing, he had to maintain in this new life of his. He wasn't going to be careless about this. He had to wait, so he would. If he had to wait too long though, he worried what would happen, if and when he got to return to McKinley. He had been away for a while, even more, by the time of his return, so… What if he got back and everything had changed. For his part, he had acclimated himself to 'Warbler life,' but then New Directions… It was like being so invested in a book or a movie, then skipping ahead four or five chapters, finding everything had changed without knowledge of how they got there. What if he went back and they couldn't be a unit anymore?

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>********always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!****** **


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